Hostages freed as commandos storm Mumbai hotels

Indian commandos killed the last three gunmen at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai this evening after suspected Muslim militants …

Indian commandos killed the last three gunmen at the Taj Mahal hotel in Mumbai this evening after suspected Muslim militants stormed targets across the city.

The standoff at the Oberoi hotel ended, and 39 hostages were released, it was also reported.

People were still barricaded in their rooms after the hostage situation at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower Hotel ended, Mumbai Police Chief A.N. Roy said.

The Oberoi Group said as many as 200 people may be in its two buildings, based on estimates of occupancy and staff.

A fire broke out on several floors at the Trident Hotel as Indian commandos engaged in an intense fight with terrorists, police official Hasan Gafoor said. Forty people were evacuated, he said.

There may be as many as 12 terrorists at the Oberoi and there is no proposal to negotiate with them, said R.R. Patil, deputy chief minister of the western Maharashtra state, after reports the militants were demanding the release of all Mujahedeen fighters held in India.

"We came up against highly motivated terrorists," Vice- Admiral J.S. Bedi told the NDTV 24x7 television network. He said his commandos exchanged fire on the second floor of the Taj hotel with terrorists, and showed pictures of recovered hand grenades, tear gas shells, AK47 magazines, knives and credit cards.

Meanwhile, eight hostages were freed from the headquarters of a Jewish outreach group, according to an official of the Maharashtra state home department. It was unclear if any others remained inside the ultra-orthodox Chabad Lubavitch offices.

Authorities said 119 people died and 300 were injured when the militants - armed with assault rifles, hand grenades and explosives - launched their attacks against 10 sites in the city yesterday. Eight of the terrorists were also killed.

Around two dozen militants armed with automatic rifles and grenades and carrying backpacks full of ammunition, had fanned out across Mumbai yesterday. At least some of them had come ashore in what police said was a rubber dinghy.

They commandeered a vehicle and sprayed passersby with bullets, fired indiscriminately in a train station, hospitals, a popular tourist café and two upmarket hotels.

Police said they had shot dead seven gunmen and arrested nine suspects. They said 12 policemen were killed, including the chief of the police anti-terrorist squad in Mumbai.

Prime minister Manmohan Singh blamed militant groups based in India's neighbours, usually meaning Pakistan, raising fears of renewed tension between the nuclear-armed rivals.

"It is evident that the group which carried out these attacks, based outside the country, had come with single-minded determination to create havoc in the commercial capital of the country," he said in a televised address.

"We will take the strongest possible measures to ensure that there is no repetition of such terrorist acts."

Mr Singh said New Delhi would "take up strongly" the use of neighbours' territory to mount attacks on India. "The well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, probably with external linkages, were intended to create a sense of terror by choosing high-profile targets," Mr Singh said in a televised address,

While hostages trickled out of the hotels throughout today, witnesses said many bodies remained inside and the siege showed few signs of ending quickly. Several bodies were carried out of the five-star Taj Mahal.

Dozens of people were also apparently still hiding in their rooms, terrified by occasional bursts of gunfire and explosions, as well as fires burning in parts of both hotels, and waiting for authorities to get them to safety.

After dusk today police brought hostages out of the Oberoi, one of the city's best-known five-star hotels.

One man who did not give his name told reporters he had seen many bodies inside, but refused to give more details, saying he had promised police not to discuss details of the rescue operation.

The Maharashtra state home ministry said 84 people had been freed from the Oberoi - 60 of them hostages - and dozens more were still trapped inside.

Police said they were going slowly to protect the captives.

A previously unknown Islamic militant group claimed responsibility for the carnage, the latest in a series of terror attacks over the past three years that

have dented India's image as an industrious nation galloping toward prosperity.

Among the dead were at least one Australian, a Japanese, a Briton, an Italian and a German.

AP